Arizona has scheduled one of the toughest non-conference slates nationally ahead of playing in the best conference in the country entering its inaugural season in the Big XII. Lloyd discussed measuring his team early versus the demanding schedule and the expectations entering the season in the pre-game for Duke.
After playing Wisconsin last week, Arizona hosts Duke on Friday night. Arizona travels to the Bahamas next week to play in the Battle 4 Atlantis. Arizona plays Davidson in its first game in the Bahamas. Oklahoma versus Providence is the other quarterfinal on the Arizona half of the bracket.
Lloyd and the Arizona staff will learn more about their team playing at Wisconsin, versus Duke and in the Battle 4 Atlantis. Arizona has never lost consecutive games under Lloyd. That will likely happen at some point. Lloyd knows it's a long season and the challenging non-conference games allow him to learn about the Arizona players.
Lloyd mentioned in his comments about being realistic. That means expecting losses. Playing these big does more for Arizona later in the season than dominating and beating lower-level Division I programs. It's too early in the season for must-win games or to completely evaluate a team.
"I'm thankful for the opportunity (to play Duke)...(about playing at Wisconsin) you know there's a chance it could go the way it went you know I mean you have to be realistic and when you schedule out...you know we went in there knew it was going to be a tough game.... I think we're on the right track...if we're not we definitely have to adjust but...we can't let one game on the road early in the year kind of knock us knock us off our path with our confidence and conviction for how we play."
Indiana plays Louisville and Gonzaga faces West Virginia in the top half of the Battle 4 Atlantis bracket. Arizona will be a significant favorite in its first two games in the Bahamas. If Arizona wins its first two games and plays Gonzaga in the finals it will likely be an underdog.
Lloyd discussed the possibility of playing Gonzaga and facing his mentor Mark Few earlier this week. Lloyd was an assistant at Gonzaga from 2000 through 2001. Arizona needs to be focused on Duke on Friday night and the first two games at the Battle 4 Atlantis before being concerned about Gonzaga.
Arizona also has a non-conference game versus UCLA on December 14 in Phoenix. The early season games versus elite programs should have Arizona ready for its Big XII schedule that begins on December 30 versus TCU. Expect Arizona to continue scheduling elite programs in non-conference under Lloyd.